+13 USS Fullam DD474 Newsletter Spring 2002
USS FULLAM DD474
NEWS LETTERS
Northern Solomons - Bougainville - Bismarck Archipelago
Marianas - Western Caroline Islands - two Jima - Okinawa
Spring 2002 NEWSLETTER
April 16, 2002



Greetings Shipmates!
Welcome to spring! At least that is what it is in our area after another relatively mild winter and very little snow. However, we did have a terrific ice storm in January that caused millions of dollars of damage to homes and trees. Anyway, it won't be long before every day is good for golf; there's never been a bad day. Speaking of golf, I play with a group from my church including our minister; this group hasn't necessarily improved my golf game but it has certainly improved my language!

I am sorry to report the loss of two more shipmates since my last letter. The first was Wallace Thorpe who passed away on January 8 after a long siege of illness; Wallace was with us at our San Diego reunion in 1992. The second was Don Hewson who left us on February 25, also, after a lengthy illness; Don attended everyone of our reunions plus the mini-reunions on Cape Cod and at Baton Rouge. While aboard the FULLAM, Don was the "impresario" of those memorable "FULLAM FOLLIES" that we all enjoyed on several occasions in the South Pacific. Many of our shipmates thought that Don was "Snoop" aboard ship but I have never been able to verify that.

I learned from John Barton that we have another O'BRIEN survivor on our current roster and that is Homer "Whitey" Iredale, our former ship's cook. I have received some great letters from Rich Fernandez, Garrett Lynch, and Arch Kellems, describing their personal experiences when the O'BRIEN sank; I hope to include parts of these in future newsletters.

Last month I received a letter from Richard Boyd, the son of our Captain Boyd, and, here follows part of his letter that I know will be of interest to all of you:

"You might want to refresh my memory as to Dad's actual command dates aboard the FULLAM. My only time aboard this vessel was in Norfolk just before she was sunk as a target (July, 1962). Dad was in command of the USS OBSERVATION ISLAND (EAG154). I went with him aboard ship to the yard for a 2-week period and this is when we saw the FULLAM. She was in a stripped down state but Dad was able to recall different events and remembered just about every space on the FULLAM."

I sent Richard copies of the log that indicated the dates of when Captain Boyd took command of the ship and when he left. He advised that his mother, Ruth, has dementia and is being cared for by his sister and her husband who are living with her. I certainly remember her as a very charming lady and enjoyed being with her at our first reunion in Baton Rouge in 1988 and again at our reunion in San Diego in 1992.

Included in this letter is the latest roster of those to whom I am currently mailing my newsletters. If any of you know the whereabouts of any shipmates not listed on this roster, please let me know their name and address so I may start sending the letter.

Recently, Ed Summers sent me a letter along with an article about his old ship, the BENHAM (DD397); Bill Modrell also came off of the BENHAM. The article tells of the BENHAM taking on 925 survivors from the Y0RKTOWN and HAMMANN which were both sunk at the Battle of Midway. This number of survivors was believed to be the largest number taken aboard one ship during the war. If any of you would like to read this article, let me know and I will send it to you; it's unbelievable to think that a destroyer could handle this number of additional personnel. Ed also sent a personal memory which I plan to include in a future letter.

Out of curiosity one Sunday I looked up hymn #474 in our Presbyterian hymnal. The title of this hymn is "0 Splendor of God's Glory Bright". When you think back to all of the various actions we were involved in and the many, many opportunities we had of being damaged or sunk and only ended-up with just one Purple Heart, maybe we did bask in His splendor!

Your old shipmate
/s/ Paul T Beyer

March 29, 2002 
Name.  		     	        Street          		City/State/Zip 	          Telephone. 
1  Gus Anderly (C)		21253 Yantz Road, Lot #1        Brookville, FL 33512
2 J.W. Amstrong	        	5905 Navaho Trail 		Alexandria,LA 71301
3 Richard Balzamati (O)    	Route 2, Box 290		Eureka Spring, AK 72632   501-253-5339 
4 John A Barton (S)	        8709 Elden Street		La Mesa, CA 91942 	  619-469-6952 
5 Paul Beyer (C) 	        11915 Grandview  		Overland Park, KS 66213   913-451-4982 
6 James C. Blackman       	104 Fourth Av		        Warren PA 16354 
7 Stanley Blosk ( F) 	       	8345 Laakemont Dr		Jacksonville, FL 32216    904-642-7129 
8 Albert Bosbach (D)        	4 Robin Road                    Reading MA 01867 	  781-944-5317 
9 Richard Boyd	       	        4513 Pampas Circle		Antioch CA 94509 
10 Karl Brandt (D) 	       	328 Quettie Park Drive 	        Annvile PA 17003 
11 Mrs Joseph Bratton      	68 Lantern Lane Unit#2	        Dracut MA 01826 
12 Edmund F Bromirski    	209 Amboy Ave #J		Metuchen NJ 08840
13 Mrs Tom Bruce 	       	2079 Mountain Ave		Scotch Plains NJ 07076    908-322-8530
14 Louis Bryda	       	        90 County Road		        Huntington MA 01050
15 Bruno Cantamessa      	195 Norfeld Blvd		Elmont NY  11003  	  516-352-6510
16 Donald E. Contlin  (E)   	PO Box 877 		        Enfield NH 03748-9877
17 James J Carey	        9803 52nd Place		        College Park MD 20740
18 Joseph J. Cherniak (O) 	39 Summit St		        Southington CT 06489
19 Jeremiah Cianeia (C)   	10 Glenwood Ave 		Leonia NY  07605 
20 Leo Collins (C)	        13 Cheshire Way		        Loudonville, NY 12211      512-220-9003
21 Lester Connors (C)	        28870 Snead Drive		Sun City CA 92586 
22 Jules Crane	       	        1310 NE 46th St		        Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334  800-523-4407
23 John Crowther (C)         	21 Mount Vernon Dr		Claymont DE 19703-2461     302-798-7140 
24 Frank Curreri (O) 	      	1946 West 12th St		Brooklyn NY 11223 	   718-373-7l14
25 Phillip D'Alessoandro (D) 	2456 Victoria Dr		Hermitage PA 16146
26 Mort G Dagenkalb (C) 	1652 Wright Lane 		Virginia Beach VA 23451    804-248-6229 
27Joseph Daley	    	        427 Muzzy Hill Road		Milan NH 35088 	           603-449-6708 
28 James Darcy (C )	     	123 Beverly St		        Fall River MA 02720 	   508-672-1332 
29 Eugene Dascani (D)  	        1014 Moon Lane		        Connellsville PA 15424 
30 James Davy (C) 		4335 Tiffton Dr		        Saginaw MI  48603 	   517-792-1308 
31 William DeMarco (O) 	        27 Hutchinson St		Revere MA 02151 	   781-289-1596 
32 Vincent DePaulo (D)  	189 Brimbal St		        Beverly MA 01915 	   978-927-8742 
33 Joeseph DeSisto	      	366 Waverly Oaks Rd	        Waltham MA 02452 	   781-893-4865 
34 Walter E. Dehn (E) `    	44 Hudspeth Lane		Pueblo CO 81005 
35 Roland Desmaris 	      	41 North Ave Apt 131 		Attleboro MA 02703 
36 Vincenty R DiMaio      	 PO Box 16553		        West Haven CT 06516 
37 Williiam L Ellermann (D)  	610249 SW PO Box 645	        Bothell WA 98041 
38 Clarence "Bill" W Enos (D) 	706 Heylman St		        Fort Scott KS 66701-2433   620-768-0252 
39 Patrick F Ferguson (O) 	57 Rhoda Ave		        Smithtown NY 11787 	   516-265-9149
40 Richard F Fernandez (C) 	6670 Royal Palms Blvd #305	Margate FL  33063 	   954-974-7910 
41 Guy Fiorentino (D)       	123 Miry Brook Road		Hamilton Square NJ 08690   609-587-6545
42 Edward Fletcher (E)   	1746 Sparta Circle 		Sebring FL 33872 
43 Edmund J Friel (E)      	9 Honeysuckle Road 	        Westford MA 01886 
44 Albert Garrison 	     	3665 East Auantia Road 	        Mims FL 32754 
45 Phillip W Gilbert		61 Furnace St 		        Springfield, VT 05156 
46 John T Glencross (D) 	8 Little Neck Road		Ipswich MA 01938 	   978-356-5298
47 Millard Gordon (0)      	214 Birch St		        Lady Lake FL 32159 
48 Nathan Goren (C) 	  	6319 Bay Club Dr Apt 2	        Ft Lauderdale FL 33308 
49 Max Hartwell (E) 	     	1885 West Whipple	        Show Low AZ 85901 
50 Bill Herber 	     	        505 Locust St		        LaPorte WA 50651-1227 
51 Homer Tredale (S)    	619 N.W. 90th St		Vancouver, WA 98665




Name			        Street			        City/state/zip	             Telephone
52  Charles Jeroiaman (E)	175 Claremont Road		Bernardville, NJ' 07924      908-766-3141
53  Edward S Johnson (0)	542 Harvard Road		East Branch. NJ 13756
54  Mrs Joyce Johnson	        170 West Alvina Avenue	        Milwaukee, WI 53207
55  Neil Johnson Consulting Inc 175 Golf Road		        Delafield, WI 53018
56  Russell E Johnson (5)	Box 13			        Woodhull, IL 61490	     309-334-2344
57  Charles F Jones		1845 Tarpon Lane, G105 	        Vero Beach FL 32960
58  Mrs Glenn Karcher	        RD 2  Apulia Road		Jamesville, NY 13078
59  Kevin Kays		        216 Pennsylvania Street	        Staunton, IL 62088
60  Archie Kellems (E)	        1941 Treseder Circle		El Cajon, CA 92019
61 William H		        3767 Gregory Way (Unit 4)	Santa Barbara, CA 93105
62  S Price Kinq		85 Donna Lane		        Hollister, CA 95023
63  Clarence Kritchen (E)	102 Lookout Court		York, PA 17405	          717-767-9466
64  Frank Lan lois		2940 Oakley Court		Bend, OR 97701
65  Mrs Mildred Langlois	429 Kiely Boulevard		Santa Clara, CA 95051     408-243-7601
66  Harold 8 Lantis (C)	        107 Poplar Street, Apt #14	Redwood City, CA 94061
67  John LaSasso (C)		501 Briarwood Circle		Hollywood,FL 33024	  650-365-9787
68  Garrett C Lynch (1))	1681 South Elaine Drive	        Baton Rouge, LA 70815     225-924-7654
69  Harry Middlebrooks (E)	7402 Mulberry Road		Hanover, MD 21076	  410-766-1479
70  Sigmund Migden (E)	        Ventnor 5267		        Deerfield Beach, FL 33442
71  Robert Moates		5500 South 660 Road		Quapaw, OK 74363	  918-542-9904
72  Mrs William Modrell	        815 S. 216th St (#4-3 10)	Des Moines, WA 98198
73  Andrew "Mo" Molitoris (C)	137 Drake Lane		        Ledqewood, NJ 07852
74  Max O'Bara (O)		99 Beaumont Avenue		Chicopee, MA 01013	  413-592-4304
75  Thomas Parr (C)		2320 8th Avenue South	        Great Falls, MT 59405     406-761-4932
76  Mr Tom Peltin, Editor TC5 	PO Box 100		        Somerset, MA 02726
77  Mike Plessl (C)		37 Old Farms Road		Poughkeepsie, NY 12603    845-462-2684
78  Mrs Edna Purdy		35 Rubble Street		Midlank Park, NJ 07432    201-445-564
79  Wayne G Rabideau (0)	4793 Nbrth Seeger Street	Cass City, MI 48726
80  Phil Ricci (b)		PO Box 1214		        Lake Panasoff kee, FL 33538
81  Robert Ross (USS Hudson)    60 Oakland Street		Melrose, MA 02176	  781-662-7237
82  Earl R Schwass		421 Belleview Avenue, 2B	Nlewport, PI 02840	  401-846-8497
83  Dennis Scott		383 Wintergreen brive	        Brentwood, CA 94513	  510-634-6410
84  Glendon 5 Shockley (E)	2800 Beechwood Lane	        Maryland Heights, MO 63043   314-739-5250
85  Lana Shrader (Cox)	        8421 Morgan's Way		Raleiqh, NC 27613
86  Mrs James Slife		14617 14th Avenue SE	        Mill Creek, WA 98012
87  W J Smith		        3823 Foxcroft Road		Charlotte, SC 28211
88  Edwin M Summers (C)	        1067 Ridge Park Drive	        Concord, CA 94518
89  Mike Tarr		        2740 Dogwood Loop Drive	        Sevierville, TN 37876
90  Paul J Trella (E)		465 Webster St (Apt #1)	        Rochester, PA 15074
91  William B Viglione (C)	24934 Marine		        East Pointe, MI 48021
92  Wayne W Watkins	        5805 Friars Road, 2302	        San Diego, CA 92110	   619-293-7516
93  Fred A Weisheipl (E)	1521 West 6th Street		Oshkosh, WI 54901
94  Philip Whitn (0) 		6 Beverly Avenue		Marblehead, MA 01945       781-631-1841
95  John R Wier (0)		522 Barbara Avenue		Solana Beach, CA 92075     619-755-2381
96  Thomas [) Wilson (0)	165 East 44th Street		Tulsa, OK 74135
97  Max Yergin (b)		232 Janice Street		Lodi, OH 44254	           330-948-2455
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